JULY

July was a more interesting month in Cumbra with waders on the move again as Autumn begins.

3 Green Sandpiper remained at Carr Beds all month becoming 6 for the last week of the month. Also present in the last week of the month were between 2 and 12 Greenshank. The windy period in the first week of the month saw a Little Ringed Plover downstream from Rockliffe and 8 Black Tailed Godwits. A Grasshopper Warbler continued to reel all month at Carr Beds even in windy conditions and a Winchat on the 27/7 was unusual. A female Garganey was also present on the 25/7/10

A Wood Sandpiper was seen briefly at Thacka Flash near Penrith on the 19/7/10

Longtown saw an Osprey on the 2/7/10 with a juvenile Yellow Wagtail also present on the river shingle. Another Osprey flew over Talkin Tarn on the 20/7 heading for Tindale tarn.

A Red Kite was found near Anthorn which showed a Green left wing and Blue right wing tag making it a 2001 Dumfries and Galloway bird, always a scarce bird in cumbria I managed to grab this pathetic photo with my macro lens.



Owl watching was still rewarding on the occasional still evening with up to 3 Short Eared Owls and 3 fledged juvenile Long Eared Owls in the Upper Gelt area. A hobby also flew over here and I managed some marginally better photos. A brood of fledged Winchats were also seen. Another Hobby was seen at Wedholme Flow on the 20/7/10.



A pair of Little Owls with 2 juveniles were also found along the River Eden.

The potential bird of the month was a Stint species found on the 28/7 by Darren Robson. After RBA and others were consulted the bird was put out as a SemiPalmated Sandpiper though in the following day or two the id was questioned as to the possibility of the bird being a Little Stint. Still present to the east of Port Carlisle at the time of writing the bird is still being generally accepted by those who have seen it in the field as a SemiP Sandpiper and on the second occasion that I saw it it certainly seemed to show Palmations/webs between the upper toes. The plumage does seem to contain some characteristics of Little stint including two "tram lines" down the back and some rufous coloration on the upper scapulars but the feeding action of a slower picking type and the structure of the bird do not suggest Little Stint. As far as I understand the webbing is diagnostic where as the plumage can be variable so assuming the webbing was not a trick of the mud, which it did not seem to be as other birds feeding in the same area did not show it, the vote would have to go for SemiP. It will be interesting to see if the experts come up with a definate conclusion, either way an interesting bird.

Also in the vicinty of Port Carlisle harbour was an adult Spotted Redshank on the 30/7 with Little Egret and Peregrine seen while 58 Manx Shearwater were reported the following day.